Rā's al Ghūl (DC Animated Universe)
Rā's al Ghūl (قشس شم لاعم in Arabic, translated in English to Head of the Demon) was a eco terrorist that lead a secret society called the Society of Shadows and prolonged his life by six hundred years through the use of Lazarus Pits. His main goal was to preserve the Earth at all cost even if it meant killing everyone on the planet. Origin 'Rā's al Ghūl (at this time going by his unknown real name) was born over seven hundred years ago to a tribe of nomads in the Arabian Peninsula. At a young age Rā's becomes interested in science and abandons his tribe to live in the city, where he can conduct scientific research. He becomes a doctor and marries a woman named Sora, the love of his life. Rā's discovers the secret of the Lazarus Pit, and saves a dying prince by lowering him into it. The prince who is sadistic to begin with is driven completely insane by the Lazarus Pit. The prince then strangles Sora (whome he as well had his eye on). The sultan blames Rā's for what happened to his son and has Rā's placed in a cage with Sora's corps. Rā's is set free by the son of a dying elderly woman, whome Rā's had earlier examined. Rā's and the son head into the desert to seek the tribe of Rā's birth. Rā's convinces the head of the tribe, his uncle, to follow Rā's on a quest for revenge by promising the downfall of the sultan. By understanding the germ theory of desease hundreds of years before anyone else, Rā's is able to infect the prince with a deadly virus by sending him contaminated fabrics. When the sultan comes to Rā's for a cure, Rā's kills both him and his son. Rā's then leads his tribe to the city to and kills all of its inhabitants. Rā's then declares himself "Rā's al Ghūl, the Demon's Head." Sometime later Rā's forms the Society of Shadows and has two children Talia al Ghūl and Arkady Duvall. ' ''' '''1883 '''In 1883 Rā's al Ghūl learned that the United States had planed to build the Transcontinental Railroad. Because the land they were building it on was untouched Rā's planed to preserve the environment with the help of his son Arkady Duvall and an early version of the Society of Shadows. Rā's had an air ship built and had high artillery weapons put on board which he planned to use to destroy Washington D.C. However, Rā's al Ghūl's plans were halted by Jonah Hex. With his air ship destroyed Rā's escaped and Duvall was captured by Hex. '''Batman : The Animated Series Off Balance '''Rā's al Ghūl continued to lead the Society of Shadows well into the twentith century. When Rā's discovered that Vertigo was a crule, sadistic person Rā's excommunicated him from the Society of Shadows. Upon this Vertigo formed his own off shot version of the Society of Shadows which he lead. When Rā's learned that Vertigo planned to steal Wayne Enterprise's new sonic drill he sent Talia to retrive it first. Talia failed at her mission and teamed up with Batman to recover the drill. Upon defeating Vertigo and recovering the drill Batman learned that Talia was a member of the Society of Shadows and she took the drill from Batman at gun point. As Talia escaped she called her father who ordered her to test the drill. When Talia fired the drill it short circuted because Batman sabatoget it. Rā's then ended his call with Talia and said that his business with Batman was not over. '''The Demon's Quest Part 1 & 2 By this time Rā's realized he was getting older and knew that he would soon need someone to take his place as leader of the Society of Shadows and fulfill his dreams of a balanced Earth. For this reason he chose Batman to take his place. Using Talia's description of Batman's true face (which she saw during their first meeting) and knowing that Batman must be wealthy in order to finance his all his high tech equipment Rā's discovered that Batman was really Bruce Wayne. Rā's then set into motion a plan to see if Batman was worthy to take his place. Rā's had Robin abducted and contacted Batman telling him that both Robin and Talia had been kidnapped. Rā's and Batman travel to the middle east and begin their search for Robin and Talia. Along the way Rā's tests Batman by having him fight a group of thugs and a panther. When they find Robin, Batman reveals that he knew that Rā's was behind the kidnapping all along but he didn't know why. Rā's al Ghūl then reveals that when he dies he wants Batman to take his place. Batman refuses and begins to walk away. Then Rā's falls to the ground. Batman believes that this is another test but Talia says that he is really dying. Talia, Batman, Robin and Ubu then take Rā's to a Lazarus Pit and revive him. However, the pit drives Rā's insane. Talia slaps Rā's and he regains his senses. Rā's, Talia and Ubu then escape and make their way to his desert stronghold. Batman wonders what their up to and Robin reveals he heard the word Orpheus repeated several times. Batman then finds out that Orpheus is the name of a new Wayne Enterprises satellite and that it is orbiting Rā's al Ghūl's destert stronghld. Batman then flies to the middle east and infultrates the stronghold but is soon captured. Rā's then tells Batman that he will use Orpheus to detonate bombs that are being lowered into Lazarus Pits around the world. This will cause the pits chemicles to flood the earth and kill 2,056,986,000 people and restoring the Earth's ecosystem. Batman then breaks free and engages in a sword fight with Rā's. Their fight leads them to the edge of a Lazarus Pit. As the bombs countdown reaches its end Batman throws his sword destroying a computer and Orpheus is unable to send a signal to the bombs. Rā's then accidentaly falls into the Lazarus Pit and is believed to have died but somehow survived. 'Avatar ' After Bruce Wayne donates several Egyptian artifacts to the Gotham museum Ubu steals the Scroll of Osiris. As Batman tries to stop him, Rā's al Ghūl reveals to Batman that he is still alive and throws a cobra at Batman and gets away with the scroll. Batman then heads to Gibraltar and finds Talia and tells her that her father is still alive. Talia then reveals to Batman that the scroll is a map and Rā's has the other half. Talia also reveals that the map leads to the tomb of an Egyptian queen named Thoth Khepera. Batman decides to go after Rā's and Talia goes with him. Batman and Talia track Rā's to a shop in Cairo and Rā's captures them. Rā's then reveals to the two of them that Thoth Khepera had the power of life over death and that he wanted that power for himself. Eventually, Rā's finds Thoth Khepera, however, instead of youth and power the godess begins to drain his youth from him. Batman is able to save Rā's al Ghūl but when Talia learns that Batman plans to turn him over to the authorities she holds him at gunpoint and gets away with her father. ' ' 'Showdown ' When the Society of Shadows kidnap an elderly man from a retirment home Batman and Robin investigate and found a tape. When the Dark Knight plays the tape Rā's al Ghūl says that he hopes Batman will change his mind about following him after hearing his story. Rā's then goes on to tell the story of how he tried to destroy America in 1883. After listening to Rā's al Ghūl's story Batman and Robin catch up with him. Batman reveals to Rā's that he knows that the old man is his son, Arkady Duvall. Rā's goes on to explain that Duvall is beyond the Lazarus Pit's healing powers and that he wants to take Duvall home to live out his last few days which Batman allows. 'Superman : The Animated Series The Demon Reborn ' By this time the Lazarus Pits had become inaffected at healing Rā's and he began to age into an old man. When he discovers an ancient American Indian staff he has Talia steal it and she uses it to steal Superman's powers and gives them to her father. With the help of Batman, Superman is able to get his powers back. Rā's and Talia then fall into the river below. 'The Near Apocalypse of '09 '''In the year 2009, Rā's al Ghūl almost succeeded in destroying the world as a way to preserve the environment. However, Talia turned on her father and sided with Batman to defeat Rā's. At the end of their battle Rā's appeared to perish. '''Batman Beyond Out of the Past ' Rā's however, did survive. After the Near Apocalypse of 09' Rā's convinced Talia to allow him to place his mind in her body. As a result of this Talia died. For years Rā's lived in Talia's body up until the 2040's. During this time Rā's al Ghūl planned to place his mind into Bruce Wayne's body. Rā's went to Bruce as Talia and offered to make him young by placing him in a Lazurus Pit. Believing she was really Talia, Bruce agreed. However, Bruce soon realized that what he was doing was unnatural and tried to get out of the deal he made with Talia. Upon doing this Rā's revealed himself and held Bruce hostage. After placing his mind in Bruce's body Rā's planned on returning to Gotham with genetic and written proof that he was the long lost son of Talia and Bruce Wayne. By doing this Rā's would gain control of Wayne Enterprises and use the companies money to fund the Society of Shadow's operations. When Terry McGinnis interfered Rā's al Ghūl's lab exploded and Rā's perished never to return. Category:DC Animated Universe Category:Batman : The Animated Series Category:Superman : The Animated Series Category:Batman Beyond